She twirled her pen between her fingers while puffing her cheeks. She wasn’t even listening to the lecture of her bald Calculus professor.

‘Numbers. More numbers… Aish. I’m getting dizzy.’

All the while, she was just hoping that her boring class would end so she could buy a Vanilla ice cream- her current craving.

And of course, she was excited to see her girlfriend too, especially on a Friday night.

The thought of Tiffany as her girlfriend was still giving her butterflies in the stomach even after a month of officially dating.

The bell rang, signalling the professor to stop and dismiss his class.

“Finally.” She muttered, silently rejoicing in her seat.

She took out her phone and realized that she had yet to read five messages- all of which came from Tiffany.

[Babycake!! Our class has just ended. I’m freee!]

[I’m bored. And it’s Friday. :(]

[I’m here at Café de Seoul.]

[When’s your class gonna end? I’ll be waiting here.]

[I miss you… :(]

She grinned at the last text message.

She didn’t reply and decided to surprise her girlfriend instead.

“Taeyeon-sshi.”

She was about to exit the room when the professor called her attention.

“Yes, Mr. Park?” she answered, taking a few steps back.

“I need to speak to you for a moment.” He cleared his throat and gestured Taeyeon to sit down.

“O-okay.”

“You’re running for honors, right?”

She nodded slowly.

“You’re supposed to be the top of this class. But recently, I’ve noticed that your quizzes are getting average scores. From A to C-? I don’t understand. Are you having difficulty with the latest lessons?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she just scratched her head while looking down on the floor.

“Are you busy with something else?”

She looked up in surprise. “Huh?”

“You know… Boyfriend?”

She looked away and suppressed a grin. ‘It’s a girlfriend, actually.’

Mr. Park noticed Taeyeon’s flushed cheeks and assumed that he was right.

“I don’t really meddle with the personal life of my students. But I have high expectations when it comes to you so I’m saying this because I’m concerned.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“I’m giving you extra workload starting today… just to pull up your grade. You are to submit 3 pages of seatwork from our textbook every week.”

‘What!?’ Her eyes widened in shock.

“I’ll be the one to give the pages. Submit it every Friday afternoon. Understand?”

She sighed in frustration before nodding at her professor.

“You may go now.”

She bowed her head once and said goodbye.

-

Her steps were taking forever. She was staring at the thin air while thinking about what her professor just told her. ‘Am I really failing in class now?’

Her thoughts then diverted to the supposedly ‘boyfriend’ that her professor asked her about.

‘Omo!! Cutiepie is waiting for me!’

She rushed towards the café, not minding that she looked like a pickpocket chased by a police.

‘Please don’t get mad. Please. Please. Please!’

***

Tiffany’s stomach had been growling for the past hour already. She refused to take her order from the waiter until the person she had been waiting for arrived.

She tried not to send another text message. She didn’t want to be the clingy-girlfriend type. She already did that to her ex, and it didn’t turn out well.

‘Why is she not replying? Just one text. Is it that hard to do?’

She was about to send another text message saying that she’d go home and rest but was stopped by a gasping voice.

“Fany-ah…” Taeyeon panted and looked up to see Tiffany’s cold expression. “I’m sorry…”

She took the seat across from her and silently observed her girlfriend who immediately looked away.

“Are you mad?”

Tiffany didn’t bother to look at her. She just called the waiter instead, trying hard not to make eye-contact with Taeyeon. She ordered her favourite, including Taeyeon’s.

Taeyeon